Disney's Once Upon a Time
by Jedders
Summary: Once Upon a Time is linked with Disney. But what if the story of Beauty and the Beast was told in way that blurred the lines between Disney and ABC's Ideas? Rumplestiltskin is cursed as the Dark One and after losing his son keeps to his estate when he isn't making deals. Belle is a bookworm princess and agrees to live with 'the beast.' RumpleXBelle


**Disney's Beauty and the Beast. ABC's Once Upon a Time Version.**

Once upon a time, in a far away land, a poor village man lived with his thirteen year old son, Baelfire. Bae for short. Although, the man did not have everything his heart desired, the villager was humble, kind and content while he had his son. But, then, The Ogre Wars threatened their land and the duke reigning over the land where they lived began taking children to fight in the war as early as their fourteenth birthday.

The villager, Rumplestiltskin, was terrified of losing his only son and last remaining family member to the war that had crippled him. After his wife left him and was murdered on her journey back to her family, he was sure he had nothing to live for but his son. He did not have an ounce on respect and resigned himself to live only for Bae. He had to fight or flee.

He could not, of course, fight the duke's army or The Dark One. Rumplestiltskin woke his son late that night, having made his decision. Running had saved his life before and no matter how cowardly he would appear, to save Bae's life, it was worth it. After giving a few alms to an old beggar on the road, he and his son continued walking along. Not two hours on the road and a group of the duke's men found them, recognized the man, knew what he was trying to run away from, threatened and humiliated him in front of his precious boy and then kicked him to the side of the road. Rumplestiltskin's plan had failed. Then, the old beggar man rushed to him as the Duke's men rode off on horseback, laughing.

At first, Rumplestiltskin flinched, waiting to be struck again but instead the beggar helped the villager and his son back to their home in return for shelter for the night and whatever her could spare. Thankful for his assistance, he accepted and the old man helped them on their way.

"You need to find another way." The beggar said, once they arrived at Rumplestiltskin's home and Bae had fallen asleep. "You need to choose a different path." He whispered, slurping up the soup the generous villager had prepared for him.

"Choose?" Rumplestiltskin asked incredulously. "What choice do I have?"

"Everyone has a choice." The beggar answered.

"I'm the town coward." Rumplestiltskin informed the old man, fighting back tears of despair. "The only choice I have is which corner to hide in. I'm lame... friendless... The only thing I've got is my boy." He choked, his voice breaking as he pointed to his sleeping boy behind the beggar. "And they're going to take him away from me. If they take him away, I would surely... Truly become dust." The old beggar man leaned in close annunciating every syllable to the distraught man before him.

"Not if you have power." But the beggar's intense stare and dark tone could not break through Rumplestiltskin's hopelessness. Frustrated, the beggar tried again. He pointed out that there was a reason the powerful Dark One was working for a useless fool such as the Duke of the front lands. Accepting this glimmer of hope. Rumplestiltskin pressed the old beggar for more information.

The old man explained that there was a mystical dagger inscribed with the Dark One's true name and the duke held the dagger, thus controlling the Dark One. He continued, raising the villager's hopes by telling him if he stole the dagger, he would control the Dark One and no one could take Bae from him. But, Rumplestiltskin was too fearful to enslave one so powerful as the Dark One. The beggar suggested not to enslave the power but to take it for himself.

It was his last hope, and he was willing to risk his life for it. He had developed a plan that night and was thankful for his sharp mind, to produce a seemingly foolproof idea, but he wouldn't know until he succeeded or died failing. It was a plan he just might have been able to pull off with only the materials of a poor villager and less than two days.

Bae was his helper, the next day, boiling sheep fat and soaking the wool. Pleased with his plan, Rumplestiltskin told his son about the dagger and became excited when the prospect of the Dark One's power came about. Of course, his intentions were pure, he explained. He had plans to save all the children who were out dying in the war.

The boy shocked him when he seemed willing to go fight. The boy hadn't meant to hurt his father, he wanted to save him. Bae was afraid of losing his father to keep him from fighting in the war. Rumplestiltskin, however, took it as if his son wanted to march off to his death because he had learned that his father was a poor, powerless, coward. The man tried to explain his side to the boy but Bae did not look convinced.

He swore to change Bae's opinion of him, once he had the Dark One's power.

That night, Rumplestiltskin and Bae made their way to the outer wall of the castle, in front of a large heap of straw. He lit the sheep made torch with their lantern. Rumplestiltskin buried the torch into the straw, and the castle was alight in no time. The man sent his son away to safety as the castle inhabitants evacuated, running right passed him, as if he were invisible in their panic.

The villager fearlessly made it into the castle throne room, where the beggar told him the dagger was said to be hidden. He looked around for a moment, adrenaline pumping as the flames roared around him. For some reason, he felt as if his eyes were drawn to the tapestry that had not caught fire, yet and tore it down with his free hand, his other gripping his walking stick, careful not to set it ablaze. There the dagger was hanging, just as the beggar said, he was washed over with relief and any doubts he had, melted away.

Zoso, the dagger read. The villager rushed out of the castle, hobbling around the pools of flames.

Bae, ran to him as the man passed his hiding place, frantic with worry. Rumplestiltskin assured the boy he was fine and sent him home. Bae tried to protest and admit to a feeling that something would go wrong. The man tried to clam his son as he ordered him home, but Rumplestiltskin was worries as well, He had never really murdered someone, before... Not human, anyway.

But there was no time to waste. Dawn was approaching and with it, would come the men to take his son to his doom. Reading the name on the dagger aloud, he summoned the Dark One. His fear mounted in the face of a hooded figure. He didn't want to murder anyone or have to fight at all. He tried to take control of the being before him.

The Dark One seemed almost bored as if her were expecting to be summoned by a villager instead of the Duke. He pressured the frightened village man. It was as if he was daring Rumplestiltskin. When the man simply shrank back at the Dark One's words, he toyed with Rumplestiltskin's head, asking if Bae could really be his son with such courage his father lacks. Was he willing to give his soul for his bastard son?

Rumplestiltskin decided, yes. He plunged the dagger into the chest of the Dark One, but when he fell to the ground, dying, the hood of his cloak fell back and his face melted away to reveal the old beggar man. Laughing, the beggar told him how his life was a burden and he had steered Rumplestiltskin to kill him.

"Magic always comes with a price and now, it's yours to pay." He hissed. The village man, confused and panicked choked on his words.

"Why me? Why me?" And the beggar's last words were-

"Because, I know how to recognize a desperate soul."

The villager was terrified. He tried to call the beggar back to life but it was too late, the Dark One had taken advantage of the love in Rumplestiltskin's heart for his son. As punishment for falling into this trap, his fist clenched painfully tight on the handle of the dagger, still in the beggar's chest. Alarmed, he pulled the weapon out of the man's body, but could not release it. His own name was etched into the blade, now, clearly visible through the blood. There was a burning hot sensation flowing through his hand, up his arm and spreading to the rest of his body and his skin became rough and dark before his eyes.

Rumplestiltskin had become the Dark One.

Bae became afraid of his father and how the power had changed him. He now murdered freely. Upset at his father's change, Bae called on the Blue Fairy for help. She appeared but the only help she could offer was a bean that would take him and his father to a world without magic. Rumplestiltskin agreed to go with his son to this new world, but when Bae planted the beak and a huge portal opened, drawing them in, Rumplestiltskin remembered what it was like to be powerless to even protect his son and urged the boy not to go into the portal, it could have been evil after all, everyone wanted to be rid of the Dark One... unless they wanted something from him.

"Coward!" Bae screamed as he slipped through his father's grasp and disappeared with the portal. The moment it had stopped, Rumplestiltskin regretted his hesitance and wished more than anything to change his mind. He dug into the Earth, trying to make the portal reopen so he could follow his son, but it was too late. He had given into the cowardice in his heart.

He called the blue fairy to him, determined to find a way to be with his boy. Where had he gone? How could he get there? What was the cost? All he could learn form the fairy was that there was a curse that would send him to the world without magic.

As the years passed, Rumplestiltskin hid his feelings of despair but would not lose the shred of hope he had. He began to resent himself and though no one else could touch him, he beat himself up over his wrong decisions. How could he let himself become a beast? 


End file.
